On 6 March, Black Lives Matter UK (BLMUK) announced more of what it’s done with the £1.2mn that it raised in 2020, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in the US.
BLMUK made an initial distribution of £170,000 in February 2021 to 13 grassroots groups such as the United Families and Friends Campaign. UFFC is a coalition of those affected by deaths in police, prison and psychiatric custody.
A basic commitment was to distribute at least half of the funds received to ‘Black-led grassroots groups that wouldn’t typically receive funding’.
In the second round of grants (distributed in February 2023), £350,000 was donated to groups such as Decolonising the Archive, Manchester Migrant Solidarity and Out & Proud African LGBTI.
Grants were divided into two streams, one for new, very small organisations and the other for groups which have been going for over five years, with a turnover of less than £200,000.
In total, BLMUK has made grants of £569,733 and has spent £130,787 on staff, legal and administrative costs. That seems to leave about £500,000 for BLMUK’s own development and campaigning work.